- Update : According to Reuters (Controversial Croat band locked out of Canada venue, Solarino Ho, November 2) Thompson has had one venue pull the plug on his/their concert scheduled for November 4 in Toronto, forcing him/them to find an alternative, less public platform.
Jewish groups protest Catholic church’s decision to host Croat musician
Jewish groups are calling on Catholic leaders to ban a controversial Croatian musician whose band is scheduled to perform Friday at a church-owned concert hall in New York City.
The ADL and Simon Wiesenthal Center say Marko Perković, who performs under the stage name Thompson, has glorified the pro-Nazi regime that is blamed for the deaths of thousands of Jews during World War II. A report in the Daily News says members of Thompson “extol ethnic cleansing – and their fans often greet them with the Nazi salute.”
The newspaper reports that Thompson has been banned in Canada and the Netherlands. His website says the band is scheduled to play Friday at the Croatian Center in Manhattan, which is linked to St. Cyril & St. Methodius Croatian Church.
This prompted Mark Weitzman of the Wiesenthal Center to demand action from Edward Cardinal Egan, the city’s top Catholic.
“Any glorification of the Ustashe regime, with its murderous record against Jews, Serbs and other Croats, especially one that uses popular culture to appeal to a new generation, must be firmly rejected,” Weitzman writes in a letter. “I urge you to take the lead on this issue, and to reaffirm the Church’s commitment against antisemitism, intolerance and violence by making sure that there is no connection between the Church and Perkovic that could in any way imply support of his hateful positions.”
This morning, church officials responded to Weitzman’s letter. He wouldn’t give us a copy, but he did say that the local pastor has assured the archdiocese that Thompson “doesn’t engage in inappropriate behavior.”
Weitzman says he plans to take the church up on its invitation for the Wiesenthal Center to provide additional information about the parts of Thompson’s performance that they find objectionable. “Am I satisfied with that response? I think that it could have gone a little deeper … it really warranted a really significant investigation,” he says.
USA TODAY has requested comment from a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York. As for the critics, they’re not planning to hold protests outside the concert venue.
“I’m not organizing anything, I’m not calling for anything. I don’t want to make a bad situation worse,” Weitzman says. If Perković and his fans live up their reputation, Weitzman says it will be “a deep shame for all involved — those who performed, those who attended and those who allowed it to happen.”
Update at 6:04 p.m. ET: On Deadline just heard from Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in New York City. Here’s an excerpt from the letter Zwilling sent to the Wiesenthal Center:
We have been attempting to carefully investigate Marko Perkovic, also known as Thompson. The pastor of the local Croatian parish has assured us that Mr. Perkovic does not engage in inappropriate behavior, and that he will speak with Mr. Perkovic prior to any appearance in New York to make certain that such will be the case during his scheduled upcoming concerts. I myself have done what investigating I could, which has been hindered because much of the information on him is in Croatian. However, I have not found anything that would indicate that he has engaged in objectionable behavior.
Zwilling says the Wiesenthal Center sent him more information today that was “inconclusive.”
We received an e-mail this afternoon from a Thompson supporter who claims the allegations are “blatant propaganda and outrageous lies.”
We can’t confirm the authenticity of the quotes attributed to the singer in that message, but they do match up with what Perković said during a concert in June. “I’ve had enough of the unjustified attacks!” the Associated Press quotes him as saying in Zagreb. “I’m a musician not a politician. At my concerts I sing about love, God and the homeland — only about that and nothing else.”
In June, a New York Times reporter attended one of Thompson’s concerts.
See also : Australians protesting Croat’s concert, JTA, October 31, 2007
Honestly, get over it. You didn’t give a shit when he came out here in 2005 to play at Vodafone Arena. So why do you care now?
Maybe I didn’t care because I didn’t know he existed, let alone that he was on tour…
says a lot, you are clueless
“I know you are, but what am I?”
(Whereas you, on the other hand, are given to juvenile insults. Grow up.)
Talk of the Thompson tour on NYC Indymedia: http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/92246.html
Like I said on the Indymedia comments, the worst thing about Thompson is the music. Yeesh.
Andy you talk about things you have no idea about, get some sense into that head of yours. The fact you call yourself an anarchist is quite telling, you need to grow up.
Steve, steve, he’s a peeve, he has a pee stain on his sleeve
Steve, I’ll not hear of such slurs against the Croatian community.
Indeed.
Did i heard an insult? you know steve? as i see you are not grow up i’ll give you another pinch on the nose. grow up.
“don’t argue with an idiot/child/steve he will bring you to your level and beat you by experience”